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Everyone Needs To Chill Out About 'Diablo Immortal'
New Overwatch Hero Ashe's Abilities And Play Style Detailed
How to Get Destiny 2 for Free on PC

Everyone Needs To Chill Out About 'Diablo Immortal'

Posted: 03 Nov 2018 06:05 AM PDT

Diablo ImmortalBlizzard

Yesterday was the opening ceremony of BlizzCon, where we saw a new WoW and Hearthstone expansions, new Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch characters, and a Warcraft 3 remaster. We also got our promised Diablo closing announcement, which was Diablo Immortal, a mobile game that aims to translate a version of the ARPG into the one device everyone already owns.

While such an announcement was never going to bring the house down, the way that many fans have reacted to even the idea of the game has been awful, resulting in some of the most cringeworthy “gamer” moments I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of those.

There’s the usual online stuff like endless upset reddit threads and a YouTube trailer that is drowning in dislikes (6K/180K ratio, wow). But there’s also one video making the rounds where during the Diablo Q&A session with the developers, a fan (“fan”) gets up and asks if Diablo Immortal is “an early April Fool’s joke.”

What the hell, man.

Between this and a few other live hostile reactions I’ve seen at BlizzCon, I have to interject and say that everyone needs to calm down and grow up about Diablo Immortal. Diablo 3 is my most played game in history (2,000+ hours, I believe?), so yes, I do have a stake in this.

Diablo ImmortalBlizzard

First of all, Blizzard went out of their way to pretty much say outright that they were not going to show Diablo 4 at BlizzCon ahead of time. They didn’t name it, but the implication that they know everyone wants news about the true next installment of the series, but that it would have to come later. So we really should not have been expecting it to close the show (though even a title card could have gone a long way). Knowing that, it stood to reason that the promised Diablo announcements were probably going to be a D1/D2 remaster or a mobile title. It was the latter, and as such, not exactly a surprise.

Sure, I am not head over heels about the idea, but:

I didn’t think Blizzard could make Diablo work on console either, and that turned out to be fantastic.
I don’t see anything wrong with at least attempting to make a Diablo mobile game, as if it sucks, people can simply…not play it.
Again, we know that Blizzard is working on a true Diablo sequel, and this was a separate team building out Diablo Immortal. The fact that this exists is not taking anything away from D4.
Given how much garbage currently exists on mobile if Blizzard can pull this off and make it even a little bit as addicting and fun as a traditional Diablo game, I’m down with making it my go-to phone game for at least a little while.

Diablo ImmortalBlizzard

With all this said, there are certainly some legitimate criticisms you can make of this idea and what’s been seen/heard/demoed so far:

It is not unreasonable for people to be skeptical of mobile titles given again, how much pay-to-win, pay-not-to-wait, etc. garbage there is out there in the space. The assumption is that there will be some kind of element like that in Immortal, and Blizzard did nothing to spell out how monetization would or would not work in the announcement.
Even if Blizzard did do well with a console port of D3, a mobile game is another story, and I worry about the potential depth and controls. Early reports from those who got their hands on it are mixed, some saying it’s fun, others saying it’s been way, way oversimplified, and key systems like gearing and inventory remain unfinished. Not ideal.
Blizzard partnered with NetEase for this game, and Immortal does look a whole lot like another NetEase other mobile title, Endless of God. While Immortal is more involved than a simple reskin, it’s not exactly a great look for a concept players are skeptical about to begin with.
This was not the best announcement to close the main stage show with, given that it was bound to produce a somewhat muted reaction at best, and a hostile one at worst. Then again there wasn’t all that much huge news elsewhere, I suppose.

But even if there are valid questions to be asking about Diablo Immortal, much of the hate I’ve seen about it feels way, way over the top, once again projecting the worst about “gamer” culture in an era when I hoped we were slowly, finally starting to get past this kind of immaturity. We’re not, I guess, and trying to be an edgelord and “own” a developer trying to show off their work like this is just gross, no matter what you might think of the concept. This will no doubt be framed as me trying to "defend a billion dollar company," but I view it as just...being a normal human being. Clearly I am also critical of the idea, but torching the developers like this, to their faces even, is not "brave," it's nasty and petty. And it's even worse than entire segments of the gaming population are now holding up "April Fool's" guy as some kind of hero of the people.

I remain admittedly skeptical about Diablo Immortal, but I at least hope it turns out to be something worthwhile, and I certainly understand why Blizzard wants to dive deeper into the mobile scene, as they would be crazy not to. But Diablo has been notoriously hard to monetize with microtransactions as they just don't really fit into a game like this, and given that Immortal needs to probably be supported entirely by microtransactions on mobile, that’s…concerning.

Still, I’ll give it a chance. If it sucks, it sucks, and I will tell you it sucks. But I won’t act like a child being purposefully awful to the developer trying to make it work.

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Read my new sci-fi thriller novel Herokiller, available now in print and online. I also wrote The Earthborn Trilogy.

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New Overwatch Hero Ashe's Abilities And Play Style Detailed

Posted: 02 Nov 2018 02:47 PM PDT

As revealed during the BlizzCon 2018 opening ceremony, Overwatch is getting a new character: Ashe. Based on what we've seen so far, the leader of the Deadlock gang will mix up the existing rhythms of gameplay in a major way. Following her announcement, Blizzard held the Overwatch: What's Next panel and went into detail about the character, specifically her story, the design ethos behind her creation, and how she plays.

During the panel Michael Chu, lead writer of Overwatch, explained that Ashe--like most other villains in the game--came from a wealthy, privileged background. Her parents were CEO coaches and she had everything she could ever want. However, a chance encounter with McCree opened her eyes to the criminal world. Together, they committed crimes and Ashe found herself to be good at it, eventually deciding she could distinguish herself in the world of villainy.

With McCree and two other, nameless other figures she founded the Deadlock gang. They did big heists to make a name for themselves as they endeavored to write their names in the legend of the wild American west. Ashe's background and upbringing also allowed her to take lessons from her parents and use them to organize the gangs so they operate better, effectively establishing a criminal brotherhood. B.O.B (Big Omnic Butler/Bodyguard) is a companion character that is always by her side and also factors into the way she plays in a big way.

Discussing her design, lead designer Geoff Goodman said they wanted another weapon-focused character in the game, and this thinking has defined the way Ashe plays. Ashe's main weapon is called "Viper" and it's a lever-action rifle with two firing modes. In the primary firing mode it spits out bullets fast. However, in the alternate firing mode it's a little slower as Ashe looks down a holographic sight for precision shots. In this mode the Viper must be reloaded after each shot, but when firing players will have quite a lot of control as recoil is relatively low.

In terms of abilities, the Coach Gun is a secondary sawed-off shotgun-like weapon that does a decent amount of damage, but is mainly used to create distance. On impact it knocks Ashe and her target away, which will be very handy for getting a rampaging Winston or a charging Reinhardt off you. In these situations, you can also use it to knock enemies into the air, then use the juggle state to fire off some precise shots using the Viper.

Her next ability is Dynamite, which does a lot of damage but takes a while to explode. This is because its fuse needs to burn out fully before igniting the explosives. However, by shooting it manually the detonation can be forced, though this naturally takes a steady hand to do.

Her Ultimate ability is something completely new to Overwatch: a secondary support character for Ashe. When she pops her Ultimate ability, B.O.B leaps in from behind her and runs straight forward. The first character he connects with is smashed into the air, while other characters in the splash zone will also be knocked away. Although players can use abilities to escape him, if they're hit, they'll have no air control, leaving them open to being picked off by Ashe or other characters.

B.O.B will eventually stop moving forward and unleash a hail of gunfire. Interestingly, B.O.B functions almost like a second character in that he can be healed, buffed, and debuffed just like anyone else. This means that, for example, an Ana can Nano Boost him to up his damage output. If he's able to get into the back line of an enemy team, he could be devastating, so when he appears, he's very much intended to be a high-priority target.

Ashe was revealed through a new animated short called "Reunion." As you may have guessed, the cinematic reunites Ashe with McCree, and explores some of their history before everything descends into chaos. There's a whole bunch of other characters in the short which could be new characters in their own right, in Blizzard's own words, but for now we've got the deadly leader of the Deadlock gang. Check out the Ashe gameplay video to see more of her in action.

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How to Get Destiny 2 for Free on PC

Posted: 03 Nov 2018 02:27 AM PDT

How to Get Destiny 2 for Free on PC

If you’ve been paying attention to what’s been going on at BlizzCon 2018, you may have heard the news that Blizzard has put Activision’s Destiny 2 up for free on PC. Here’s what you need to know in order to get Destiny 2 for free on PC.

First things first, you’re going to need a Battle.Net account, and also to download the Battle.Net Launcher. This can also be known as Blizzard Launcher, but simply head to that link above, and click the big ‘Download for Windows’ button or click on the ‘for Mac’ link just below.

Once you’ve got it all installed, you’ll also need to sign up for an account. When you’re all signed in and have the launcher open, you’ve got one more step that people have been glossing over. You need to enable the Blizzard SMS Protect verification system, enabling players to receive texts on their phone that can unlock your Blizzard account, remove a lost authenticator, recover your account name, and approve a password reset. It’s a pretty handy setting to have enabled.

Head to the link above, log in with your Battle.Net account, and enter your cell phone number. Upon doing so, you should receive an SMS message within the minute with a verification code. Enter this in on the site, and you’ll then have linked and enabled the Blizzard SMS Protect feature.

Now, return to the Battle.Net launcher. You might need to log out and then log back in. Upon doing so, you’ll receive a little notification that you’ve got an Unclaimed Gift on your account. You can either click this, or click on your account name in the top-right corner of the window, and select the View Gifts option from the drop-down.

You should now see Destiny 2 available. Redeem the gift, and then simply click on Destiny 2 from underneath the Activision Games tab on the left side of the Battle.Net launcher. You can now install Destiny 2 for free on PC.

Restrictions and Limitations

The only thing you really need to keep in mind, outside of having to enable Blizzard SMS Protect on your account, is that this offer only runs up until Nov. 18, 2018. After this point, you’ll no longer be able to take advantage of the promotion and get Destiny 2 for free on PC.

Similarly, it’s worth noting that Destiny 2 is only free on PC, and not Xbox One and PS4. It is also only the standard version of Destiny 2, with no additional DLC expansions included. But still, a free game is a free game!

That’s all you need to know to get Destiny 2 for free on PC. If you’re looking for some handy tips and tricks for your epic sci-fi shooter adventure, be sure to check out our Destiny 2 guide wiki. We’ve also got an additional Destiny 2 Forsaken wiki for more helpful hints on the game’s latest expansion. We’ve also included a number of our most popular Destiny 2 guides for you down below for your convenience, because we’re good like that.

Chris Jecks

A UK History graduate, Chris is a firm believer that Bioshock is the pinnacle of video game storytelling. He spends his days playing games, watching TV, or desperately attempting to improve his movie knowledge. You can follow him on Twitter @ChrisJecks, or email him at [email protected]

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